Awkward
by Criminally Insane Hermit
Summary: After the fight with Ron at the Yule Ball, Harry decides to comfort Hermione. Too bad he's an awkward, fourteen year old boy. Or perhaps luckily. HHr fluff!


A/N: Okay. ::Looks discreetly around for anyone who knows her.:: This is… Het. ::People who have read her fanfic's before gasp and then begin running around shouting, 'The sky is falling! The sky is falling!':: I know, I know. I usually write Slash, but I'm an HHr shipper. I was inspired to write this while I was reading Lord Cargyle's 'Revelations on a Stairwell'. (It's adorable, read it.) So this is my take on his plot. Mine is kinda like pre-HHr, since there isn't any explicit romance. You can find it if you squint though!

A/N 2: This is _movie_-verse, not book-verse. It starts right after Hermione sends Harry off to bed.

Disclaimer: I stole the characters from Joanne, and the plot from Lord Cargyle, so I really don't own anything this time.

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Harry looked over his shoulder at Hermione, who had sat down on the stairs, sobbing quietly. Looking back at Ron, he decided that Hermione's need was greater then his.

"Go ahead mate, I'll catch you up."

Ron shot a disgruntled look back towards Hermione, but continued upstairs. Harry backtracked, and stopped just short of Hermione's slouched over form. Studying her carefully, he could see why Ron was jealous. Hermione had pulled her hair up, letting a few loose curls fall around her (admittedly red and blotchy) face. Her dress robes were in a shade of purple that Harry had never seen on Hermione before, and for the life of him he couldn't figure out why she didn't wear it more often. Despite the slight tousled-ness that was inevitable after dancing, she did look rather stunning. Harry suddenly felt very self-conscious, so he took a seat next to his friend.

"Er- are you, um, okay?" he asked, smacking himself mentally. Her only response was to sob. Feeling distinctly more awkward then he ever had around Hermione, he patted her on the back.

She looked up at him through watery eyes.

"Has anyone ever told you that your comforting skills are astounding Harry?" she commented dryly.

Flushing slightly, Harry decided to cover his awkwardness with humor.

"Why thank you Hermione, nobody ever stops to admire my many skills." He said, purposefully trying to make the statement as arrogant-sounding as possible, and throwing in a cheeky smile for good measure. He was rewarded with a small giggle and Hermione's hand connecting with the back of his head.

"Ouch that hurt! Watch where you're swinging that hand woman!" This earned Harry another smack and a louder giggle. Harry finished rubbing the back of his head and feigning pain, and glanced up into Hermione's eyes.

He had never truly appreciated how gorgeous Hermione's eyes were. A warm, chocolate brown, they reminded Harry of all the winter days he, Ron and Hermione had shared, curled up in comfortable arm chairs in front of a roaring fire. Those days that they would drink hot chocolate and toast things over the fire, occasionally engaging in chess games. (Which Ron always won.) He was brought out of his reverie by Hermione's hand placed on his arm.

"Thanks Harry, I needed a laugh." Feeling rather disoriented, it took a moment to register what Hermione had said, and another to untie his tongue and answer.

"Er, yah. No problem." She smiled, and Harry realized that he rather liked making her smile.

"Ron can be so thick sometimes! It makes my blood boil! If he wanted to ask me, he should have asked me! Instead of waiting till the last possible second. Just because it took him three years to notice I was a girl, doesn't mean nobody else noticed!" Apparently Harry had done too good a job of comforting Hermione, because she was sorted out enough to go back to raging about Ron.

"Hey Hermione, don't worry about it. Ron will realize how stupid he was, and he'll go back to being relatively nice to you!" Harry said brightly, trying to calm her down. Hermione snorted.

"Yes, but he won't apologize."

"Now come, did you really expect him to?" Harry asked in a light, teasing tone. Hermione smiled again, and Harry stood up, brushing his robes off and holding a hand out to Hermione.

"Come on, it's time to go to bed." Too late, he realized what that sounded like, and blushed furiously. Fortunately, Hermione didn't seem to notice, and she took his hand. Pulling her up, he pulled her into a slight hug, and blushing furiously whispered,

"I noticed."

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A/N: Alright, first het piece, so review, review, review!


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